OS X: Of Docks and Roadblocks

2002 – As I said last time, the more I use Mac OS X, the more I like it. This is especially true since replacing the stock 10 GB Toshiba drive (4200 rpm, 1 MB cache) with a larger, faster 20 GB IBM Travelstar drive (5400 rpm, 8 MB cache).

I Want to Switch But…

2002 – For years the Mac faithful heard promises about Apple’s next generation operating system. Copland or Rhapsody (or whatever it was being called at the time) would be fully buzzword compliant, would run on any Power Mac ever made, and have us chomping at the bit to upgrade.

Good-Bye, Rodney

Rodney O. Lain was one of the most erudite, informed, opinionated, and iconoclastic writers on the Mac Web. In other words, he thought for himself, spoke his mind, and did it well.

Going Ten, Part 3: Progressing Slowly

2002 – Let me be right up front and state that it’s going to be a while before I stop booting into Mac OS 9.x to get my work done. I’ve developed habits that depend on classic Mac features like a series of popup windows at the bottom of my screen and being able to […]

Going Ten, Step 1: Preparation

2002 – This is the first on an ongoing series as Low End Mac prepares for and jumps into the world of Mac OS X. Unlike others who submit articles for 10 Forward, I haven’t used 10.1 yet, but I’m preparing to.

Good Surveys and Bad Surveys

I get some interesting letters about the Best of the Mac Web survey each time I run it. I suspect I’ll get more about the Rest of the Mac Web survey we’re launching today. Let’s look at some of the common threads:

Class Act, Mac Web

At about 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, a hijacked airliner smashed into one tower of the World Trade Center. Within two hours both towers had been hit and become piles of rubble. A third airplane caused massive damage to the Pentagon, and a fourth hijacked plane crashed in rural Pennsylvania.

Abandonware and Copyright

Yesterday we took a strong line against pirated MP3s, warez, and other copyright violation. We received some excellent feedback, particularly with respect to discontinued or abandoned software.

Not Franchising Apple Stores

McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and a host of other businesses successfully sell franchises around the country – and sometimes around the world. Last week John Scheeser proposed Apple do the same thing with its retail store in an article published on The Mac Mind.

So Long, Douglas Adams

The science fiction world lost a great humorist and the Mac community lost a great advocate on Friday, May 11, 2001, when Douglas Adams unexpectedly passed on at the age of 49.

4 Years of Low End Mac

2001 – Four years ago, there was no Low End Mac. There were good resources for PowerBooks and Power Macs, but support for older models was spotty. You might find a really good Mac Plus page or a site with excellent Mac IIfx info, but I couldn’t find a comprehensive resource covering the oldest Macs.

Shot in the Foot Again: Firmware Upgrade Disables RAM

2001: Before I even knew there was a firmware update for my PowerBook G4, the Mac Web let me know that a lot of users were having problems with it. These updates were posted late Friday, March 23. By Saturday morning, sites like Accelerate Your Mac, Mac Observer, MacCentral, and MacFixIt were reporting big trouble […]

One Faster Brain or Two Slower Ones?

2001 – This article was posted about three weeks before Mac OS X 10.0 first shipped, so it reflects the reality under Mac OS 9.1. OS X has far better multiprocessor support, which Bare Feats demonstrated in an October 2001 comparison of single- and dual-processor G4 Power Macs using OS X 10.1.

Blame the Cube?

2000: There’s no nice way to say it: Apple stock tanked on Friday. AAPL opened at $53.50 on Friday, dropped immediately below the $30 mark, and closed the day at $25.75.

Macintosh vs. Windows 95

I ran across this memo on my hard drive at work. It was written in late 1996, when Windows 95 was making serious inroads by claiming to be “almost as good as the Mac.” This was not a good time for Apple: Between authorized Mac clones dividing the Mac OS market and Win 95 siphoning […]

Should Apple Use the New G3?

There’s been some interesting discussion of IBM’s new PowerPC 750CX and forthcoming 750CXe processors, especially related to IBM Discusses New PowerPC Chips on MacWeek. A lot of Mac users seem to think the 750CX would be a poor choice; I beg to differ.

The Celeron Effect

Once upon a time – April 1998 to be precise – Intel created a cheap version of the Pentium and named it Celeron. It had no level 2 (L2) cache, and it sucked.

Is a Mac Better than a PC?

2000: Is a Mac better than a PC? I’ve been asking myself that question for several weeks, and I have written many drafts while attempting to figure out which is better.

G4 Debacle Not All Apple’s Fault

2000: Sean Terrill says that the G4 debacle is all Apple’s fault. He makes some interesting arguments in his article on Mac Junkie, The Great G4 Debacle: Why It Is Apple’s Fault (no longer online).

Where’s the 500 MHz Power Mac G4?

2000: Remember how Steve Jobs announced the Power Mac G4 on August 31, 1999? There would be a less-expensive 400 MHz model plus two faster machines with AGP video and more. The “Sawtooth” models would run at 450 and 500 MHz.